Spring Hill president shares vision for school during inauguration ceremony

(Press-Register/John David Mercer)The Rev. Richard P. Salmi, Spring Hill College's new president, gives his inaugural address Friday at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center in Mobile. MOBILE, Ala. - During his inauguration ceremony Friday, the Rev. Richard P. Salmi shared a vision of Spring Hill College as becoming global in its reach and committed to recruiting the "average" student as well as the best and brightest.

The 58-year-old Cleveland native has served as Spring Hill's 38th president since June. Elected by Spring Hill's board of trustees last fall, Salmi succeeds the Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, who served as the school's president for 12 years.

Blue skies cleared the way for an outside procession Friday afternoon, as a bagpiper accompanied the procession of Spring Hill's faculty, board of trustees and guests through campus to the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center, where the inauguration took place.

Salmi, known as "Richie" by friends, was described by colleagues as a man with a great sense of humor "who has left a trail of many admirers wherever he has been."

In a takeoff on late night talk show host David Letterman, Salmi's former boss read a top 10 list of the new president's traits, including his love for the Cleveland Browns, a loud laugh and frugal ways. "He is a natural-born leader," said the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, president of Loyola University Chicago, where Salmi was vice president for student affairs.

University of South Alabama President Gordon Moulton said Salmi, in a short time here, "has already reached out a hand of collegial friendship."

Salmi told the crowd that the time is right for those at Spring Hill "to become global thinkers, learners and collaborators," adding that establishing a campus in Europe would be a way to "encourage students to study abroad."

Salmi said now is the time for the school to "reach out to our neighbors and to the world so that we might do what is right for our college, to do what is right for our world and to do what is right for the greater glory of God."

While he encouraged the 1,500-student Jesuit institution to "reach out to the world," he said the school also has a responsibility to the "sons and daughters of the bayous and small towns" of Alabama and the South, helping all to "achieve the best in the American dream."

Salmi urged renewal of efforts to educate all students who are eager to learn.

"We cannot afford a generation where more than half of the population is written off as undeserving or unworthy," he said.

"Spring Hill College needs to be a welcoming place for all people and all faiths," said Salmi, "a place where once again first generations of college students are given the opportunity to excel and are prepared to be leaders in service to others." Â